Canadian scientist finalist for international development research award
A Canadian scientist is part of a team that is one of three finalists for a major international prize for research on development. The US$125,000 Award for Outstanding Research on Development will be decided at the culmination of the Second Annual Global Development Network Conference in Tokyo on December 13, 2000. It is given by the GDN to the individual, group or institution whose research in one of five topic areas holds the greatest promise for improving our understanding of development. The selection committee is chaired by Joseph E. Stiglitz, formerly a Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, and includes Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.
The Canadian is Dr Oliver T. Coomes, an Associate Professor of Geography at McGill University in Montreal. The paper that he and his two colleagues from the University of Wisconsin submitted to the GDN explores the nature and implications of traditional resource use by Amazonia peoples - from swidden-fallow agroforestry to rainforest product extraction. As Dr Coomes explains: "Throughout the developing world -- wherever the rural poor rely on fragile natural resources for their livelihood -- development groups strive to find better ways of alleviating poverty while promoting environmental conservation. Central to such efforts is the pressing need to understand the origins and implications of household-level economic diversity and inequality under imperfect markets. Our study in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve of Peru -- one of the worlds largest rainforest reserves -- uses theoretical, econometric and qualitative approaches to explore how microeconomic, geographic and socio-cultural factors shape livelihoods and asset accumulation among peasant households. Results promise new insights of vital importance to conservation-development efforts, particularly in the worlds biologically rich but fragile environments." Further information about Dr Coomes and his research can be found on the web.
A key objective of the Global Development Network is to improve the links between development policy and research institutes and sources of funds that can support their work. Sponsors of various activities under the GDN umbrella include the UNDP, the World Bank and several publicly backed institutions in Germany, the US and Japan.
